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Buehrle's impact still felt on White Sox rotation

Buehrle's impact still felt on White Sox rotation

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By Scott Merkin
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MLB.com |

CHICAGO -- Mark Buehrle has not been part of the White Sox starting rotation since 2011, but his influence lives on.

Both John Danks and Chris Sale marveled at the southpaw's almost unparalleled consistency, as Buehrle picked up his 10th win Sunday and reached double-digit victories in a season for the 13th straight year. With three more starts and 28 more innings, Buehrle will reach at least 30 starts and at least 200 innings for the 13th straight time.

"That obviously speaks for itself," said Sale, who was in the bullpen both years he worked on the same staff with Buehrle. "Not only for performance on the field but the work he puts in, the pride he takes. It's just kind of who he is."

"Yeah, he's pretty incredible," Danks said. "It's pretty well documented he doesn't have the best stuff in the game. But he certainly knows how to pitch. He doesn't beat himself and stays healthy. That's pretty amazing to me, the success he's had year in and year out. Definitely the model of consistency."

Buehrle's style of pitching was actually a model referred to by pitching coach Don Cooper earlier this season for Danks to follow once he came back from 2012 season-ending arthroscopic surgery. Although Buehrle's fastball rarely hits the high 80s at this point of his career, Danks knew what Cooper meant and understood that comparison as a positive.

"I took that more as I can't be a guy to give in anymore," Danks said. "If I get 3-1 or something on a guy, I can't just rear back and throw it as hard as I can. I'm going to have to be a little smarter, mix in an offspeed pitch, try to get a guy out front and use his aggressiveness against him. I've been fortunate to be able to watch Mark do that for five years or so and I've learned a lot from him -- more from just watching him and how he goes about things."

"To this day, and it might be politically incorrect to say, but I'm still a big fan of watching him pitch," said Sale of Buehrle. "When he's pitching, I watch. I root for him. That goes back to the person he is."

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.